The Last To Die
by TheResurrectionist
Summary: Dean Winchester was a legend, nothing more, nothing less. Turns out legends are closer than most think. Outside!POV on 2014!Dean.


A/N New story time! Many thanks to my amazing beta who looked at this and told me to get my ass in line and keep writing. So, Angelicaldevil, here you go!

* * *

"We're almost out of water."

Amy said it softly, eyes on the floor like David was going to yell at her, face pale under the ever-present layer of grime. Blue eyes flicked up to his cautiously but danced back down a second later.

"How much's left?" David sighed, feeling tension curl in his shoulders as he sat back in his chair. Amy looked skittish, taking a step back the second he'd spoken. He felt a wave of guilt at the look on her face-better than a week ago, but still heart wrenching of young. So young.

He'd found her curled up under the table last Sunday, foraging through the farmhouse for food and supplies. He managed to keep well stocked on ammo, but water was-ironically-harder to come by during the apocalypse.

"Half a gallon." She looked up at him, fingers absently pulling at her hair. It was just as dirty as her face, blonde strands limp and matted with sweat where they stuck to her face. She'd refused to let him near her at all, much less comb it all out. How in the hell she'd survived on her own up until now, David wasn't sure.

Amy broke the silence, taking his lack of response as disapproval. "I'll get more, I swear!" Her lip quivered and she was ten seconds from tears, he could just tell. David bit the inside of his cheek to keep from doing something-anything-to stop the imminent waterworks. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and tell her he wasn't the one to be afraid of. He knew how he looked, though.

The guns, the knives, the blood on his hands. It was no surprise she thought he was the monster. It dug into his heart that he was the bad guy now.

"It's fine." He gave her a soothing look, holding his hands out in front of him to show he meant no harm. "We can find a well together tomorrow, okay?"

She shook her head furiously. "I can do it. Please, let me do it."

"No." He put his foot down. God help him if she flinched, but she was staying safe if he had any say in it.

"Understand?"

She nodded after a second, blue eyes watering but not overflowing. "I understand. I'm sorry."

She turned and ran, bare feet tapping lightly to the other side of the large farmhouse, not noticing his flinch. He went back to cleaning his guns, metal gleaming in the softness of evening light.

It almost looked pleasant outside, lofty trees shadowing a picturesque sunset. He snorted bitterly, reaching for more oil.

He'd drunken away the first night of the apocalypse with a buddy of his, frantic laughter turning to tears before both of them passed out. He woke to a single gun shot and the smell of blood.

Turning to find his buddy eating his gun made it of it seem a helluva lot more real, for some reason.

David hasn't really been sure where to even GET guns much less how to use one, but that didn't restrain him from breaking the windows to seven different houses before he found one. A single handgun, blocky and unfamiliar-feeling in his hand. There was no instruction manual, but he learned. Everyone did.

The first few months he spent dodging the zombies or the Croats or whatever the hell people called them. A bad encounter with a seemingly-innocent looking old woman had wised him up early in the game and he became leery of other people.

It might have been strange how he was at home with two guns and a hunting knife now, but the apple pie life was dead and gone, no bringing it back as much as he wanted to.  
David could barely remember his sister's face, and sometimes he worried about names. They'd slip from him occasionally, something he would and wouldn't know in a heartbeat-unnecessary information as some hunters called it, but it would frustrate David until no end. Names were memories, and memories were hope.

Until they weren't.

He made his way across several states that summer, never staying in one place for too long. The power plants in California had blown within the first few months, leaving a dangerous zone past the Rockies.

No hunters that went there ever came out, but it was as shrodinger as the rest of what life had become lately.

The last night he spent in the farmhouse with Amy he drank a fifth of whiskey and the rest of the moonshine he'd found a couple counties back. Amy was already curled up in front of the empty fireplace, face slack in exhaustion and arms curled around her head.

He'd put the guns away a while ago and had resorted to drinking instead of thinking, which, four times out of five, was far less painful. Sometimes, though, he grew angry, would scream-I'm only seventeen, goddamnit! I should be trying jack for the first time this year, not chugging it down like a seasoned pro!

The furry taste it left in his mouth woke him early the next morning. He stumbled and nearly fell out of the chair he'd slept in, back stretching miserably. Daylight shafted down through the rotten, boarded up windows and he gritted his eyes against it. A small noise cracked and he flinched, swiftly grabbing the machine gun on the table, flipping the safety off and aiming in one fluid movement. When he saw what had happened he felt his jaw drop and took a step back.

Amy was on her knees in the doorway of the farmhouse, large bucket of water still grasped tightly in her arms. She was covered in dirt and bloody scratches, laying limp around the bucket like it was a life preserver. Dirty streaks ran down her face, like she'd been crying and had rubbed her face.

David bolted forward, lowering his gun and flicking the safety on again before shifting it to the side and inspecting the small girl. Kneeling, he pulled the bucket from her gingerly.  
He hissed at the girl when he saw her eyes flutter. "Amy, what did you do?"

She turned toward him weakly, eyes glazed over. "I went for water...just like you said to..."

"I told you we'd go together!" He exploded, panic overtaking him as she closed her eyes again. "Where did you go?!"

"I went to the next town where mommy used to get flowers..." The girl ran a tongue over dry lips. "They have a well there. But there were bad people on the way back. I'm sorry."

David clenched his fists. "Is that how you got scratched up?"

She nodded. "Please don't be mad. I got the water...Please don't..." She trailed off. David sighed, looking at the bucket in one part relief and equal parts hate. He dipped a hand in a second later, almost mesmerized by the cool slide of water around his hand. He hadn't seen clear water like this in ages-it was that clean.

A low rumbling noise that sounded suspiciously familiar hit him a moment later. He frowned at the sound, trying to locate the car or dog that must have been making it. Suddenly, a fierce push knocked him on his ass, too late for him to grab his discarded weapon.

His eyes widened as Amy growled again, standing above him with a sharp looking piece of wood. David rolled to his feet, backing up a few feet while simultaneously sliding his Bowie knife from his boot.

She approached slowly, a vicious look in her eyes. David felt his stomach clench as he realized what this meant, what the scratches and the blood and everything had meant. He cursed to himself, a silent, unending stream of profanities.

He could only send up a prayer to wherever Amy had gone. The Croat in her place kept advancing, wooden shard held high. He couldn't reach his weapon, didn't know if he would even fire it if he could. Nevertheless, he kept his knife out in front of him. He'd die human if he had to, knew that like he knew his own name.

Just as she was about to pounce, a flurry of motion began around them. Five men burst through the door, guns held high as they fired into Amy. She shrieked before she fell, blood splattering her chin as one chilling note rang out above the gunshots. David sank to his knees, watching in slow motion as the bloodied corpse fell. A second later, a knife was against his throat.

Wild instinct burst through him and he pushed up, trying to dismantle the man with a quick jabbing move he'd learned from a hunter back in Arkansas. He grunted as the man brought a vicious elbow down on his back. The knife remained.

"Cute." The man holding the knife said, spinning him so they faced each other. Fierce green eyes met him, set in a handsome face worn ever so slightly at the edges. He was tall, blonde hair this side above military grade even if he had the walk to prove it. Command radiated from those eyes.

"He's clean." The man said after inspecting him, releasing the hold he'd had on David's jacket and stepping back. "Search the place just in case and gather whatever you can. You know the drill."

The men around him snapped to attention, moving as soon as they had their orders. One of them picked up David's gun, deftly cracking it open and checking the clip. The leader stood in the middle of the farmhouse, arms crossed as he regarded David with a sharp gaze.

"What's your name?" It was almost grunted, man looking him up and down like a butcher sizing up meat. He resisted the urge to shudder.

"David."

The leader raised an eyebrow, malicious glint in his eyes. "Well, David. What are you doing hanging out with a bunch of Croats? Blow up dolls ain't cutting it?"

David was moving before he even realized it, fist sailing towards the asshole's face lightning fast. The older man caught it easily, narrowing his eyes.

"Fuck you, you asshole!" David screamed. "She was just a fucking kid! Fuck you!"

A sharp slap rocked him back. "Calm the fuck down." The green-eyed man ordered. "Now. As I see it, you have two options. Following? My men and I leave in five minutes, maybe less. We either take you back to camp or you go your own way, it makes no difference to me, but you need to decide now."

"Camp?" David asked, breathing heavily. "What fucking camp?"

"Home. For now." The older man said. "You're young and you can fight. We need people like you, only reason I'm offering."

He stared at David, eyes sharpening. "You have one minute to decide before we leave."  
With that, he went to supervise his men, stance firm and screaming military with every step. His Dad had walked like that, like every movement was organized.

"Yes." David said before the other man had taken two steps. The leader spun on one heel, regarding him with something David couldn't name. The quirked eyebrow returned.

"Yes?"

David squared his shoulders, raising his chin. "Yes. I'll go with you."

The other man let out a low chuckle but didn't respond as his men came back into the room, laying down supplies.

Five minutes later they were loading up into a truck, and David caught his last glimpse of the farmhouse before they sped off.

* * *

The truck ride was bumpy, worn tires skidding over gravel and sending shocks through the frame of the vehicle. David grit his teeth through the majority of the ride, keeping a hand over where his weapons were concealed and avoiding eye contact-not that it mattered much. The soldiers around him kept to themselves, silent save for a few mutters here and there. They kept their guns upright and ready, tense enough that David guessed they were still in a hot zone.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later there was an almost simultaneous relaxation, men leaning back and letting their guns drop. David peered curiously out of the small, barred back window. He kept watching as a large chain link fence came into view, stretching beyond the limits of his sight and wrapping around the camp in a circle.

The brakes screeched as they pulled to a stop suddenly. David craned his head, trying to see what was going on ahead.

"-new recruit-" He heard, but the rest was cut off by the scrape of the fences opening, dull under the grey skies.

The truck pulled forward through the small entrance and parked next to a smaller outbuilding. David felt his breath catch as the doors opened and revealed the camp.  
The word 'Camp' was misleading, implying size and poor structure. The 'Camp' was a collection of cabins, sturdy and obviously occupied. There was at least two or three dozen of them, circling around the largest building of all. Training ranges were grouped off together in the far north, running parallel to the edge of the giant fence that spanned the perimeter of the camp.

The soldiers around him shifted and piled out, walking off to different parts of the camp almost immediately. David disembarked cautiously, walking a few paces before stopping. He flinched as a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"You're due in new recruits in three minutes." The leader said, eyes piercing as he looked him up and down.

David swallowed. "And where's that?"

"First building on your right." With that the leader was off, stalking over to a group of soldiers and continuing on to a smaller cabin to the right. David shrugged at the dismissal and turned, spying the cabin and pushing himself forward.

"Hello?" He asked, knocking lightly on the doorjamb. He raised an eyebrow as the cabin wall shuddered, a low curse sounding a second later.

"I'll be with you in a minute!" A man's voice called out, muffled by the wooden walls. David blushed as he heard what was obviously a smothered groan. The noises and thudding continued for a few more seconds, one final thump causing David to blush even further.

The door opened a few moments later, revealing a sex-mussed man with dark hair, brilliant, pellucid blue eyes standing out sharply. David took a step to the side as a woman squeezed past him, a content smile gracing her features.

"What's your name?" The blue-eyed man asked when she was gone, sending her a quick wave over David's shoulder. He ducked his head, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Not that it matters, really'.

He ignored the mumble. "David, sir."

"Sir?!" The other man's eyes widened almost comically. "Boy, you call me 'Sir' again, we're gonna fight. My name's Cas, might as well do me a favor and use it."

David gaped, mouth working silently a few times before he responded. "Okay. Cas. I was-"  
The other man cut him off. "Sent here by our fearless leader. Yeah, I know. New recruits always come here. Something about my amazing charm, hmm?" He gestured at the cabin behind him, sighing dramatically. "Come in."

* * *

A/N Leave me a review? More to come soon, possibly sooner if, you know, the reviews just pile in...:) *smirks evilly* Dirty pool, right?


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